Isaacs lifts Bobcats with late goal

News-Times, The (Danbury, CT), Jim Stout THE NEWS-TIMES

Published
1:00 am EDT, Tuesday, October 12, 2004

BROOKFIELD - Tony Fernandes looked at his preseason roster and wondered where the goals were going to come from this season. Now Fernandes, the coach of the Brookfield High boys soccer team, is looking onto the field and wondering what all the concern was about.

Despite blowing a pair of leads, Brookfield won its third straight game on Monday and won for the fifth time in its last six outings with a wacky 4-3 victory against Bunnell in a South-West Conference game.
Since scoring just one goal in its first two games, Brookfield has amassed 22 goals in its last six matches, including 14 in the last three.
Senior midfielder

Joe Boa
, who has been more of a playmaker than a scorer during his scholastic career, netted his ninth and 10th goals of the season for the Bobcats. Sophomores

Dave Corrigan
and
Zach Isaacs
each added single scores for Brookfield, with Isaacs' goal in the 71st minute snapping a 3-3 tie.
Corrigan's goal, which briefly gave Brookfield a 3-2 lead early in the second half, was his fifth of the season.
"For us to be able to score, I knew Boa was going to have to step up and do some extra things," said Fernandes. "He was going to have to give us some goals and the younger guys were going to have to contribute, and that what's been happening, fortunately."
Three of the goals in the offensive slugfest came via penalty kicks. A fourth goal came directly off a free kick by Boa and fifth was the result of a midfield restart. Six of the combined seven goals were scored in the second half, including two on penalties within four minutes of each other by Bunnell's

Matt Lance
.
"Three PKs in a game," said Isaacs. "I've never seen that before."
All three penalties were the result of take-down calls in the area. In yet another odd twist, the free-kick goal by Boa, one that staked Brookfield to a 2-0 lead early in the second half, came after it appeared that Brookfield had been the team to commit the foul. Bunnell's
Kyle Malloy
, one of the better SWC keepers, couldn't get his defense aligned in time and Boa tucked a 25-yard shot into a wide-open near side of the net.
Brookfield improves to 6-2, 5-1 while Bunnell falls to 3-5, 1-4.
"Bunnell surprised me; They really have some quality players and their keeper looked good, though there was some confusion on that free kick," said Boa.
"I didn't think we played all that well ... we've been doing a lot better, but it was a tough, back-and-forth game."
Brookfield won despite the absence of senior sweeper and hard-nosed marker

Blake Reuter
, who was sidelined with an illness. That meant Fernandes had to move center back
Colin Fitzgerald
to sweeper, and insert a new starter, senior Dan Smart, in the middle of the defense.
Sophomore goalkeeper
Chris Smart
made 10 saves, including one on a short breakaway by
Jonathan Cann
while the game was still knotted at 3.
"Being able to get by without Blake was so huge," said Boa. "He's the guy who holds the defense together game after game. But we did OK despite the goals we gave up. The defense played well."
After
John Beamonte
's goal in the 61st minute had tied the game at 3-3 for Bunnell, Isaacs won it for Brookfield at 71:00, coming off the right side and into the penalty area to beat Malloy.
"It started with a throw-in by Mohamed (Almuallem)," said Isaacs.
"He threw it toward the middle and I was able to run onto it and chest it down and get it onto my foot. In the end, it was just me and the goalie and I was able to push it past him."